Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, 2015
Organic Broccoli – Irrigated – Wholesale Market – 20 lb Case
Budget Based on 1 acre of broccoli on a 10 acre mixed organic vegetable farm.
Estimated Costs and Returns per Acre.
UNIT
QUANTITY
$/UNIT TOTAL $/AC YOUR FARM $/Ac.
RECEIPTS
1. Broccoli
Case
300
31
9,300
__________
80
45
40
80
40
0.70
2.50
2.00
10
1000
200
80
810
80
80
13
207
50
600
1700
1000
200
__________
__________
__________
__________
__________
__________
__________
__________
__________
__________
__________
__________
2. VARIABLE COSTS
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
Organic certification
Seedlings
Compost/Manure
Cover Crop
Lime (prorated)
Organic Pest. Sprays
Fuel
Box and Cool
Labor
Irrigation Supplies
Plastic Mulch
Other
Acre
Thous.
Ton
Acre
Ton
Oz.
Gal.
Each
Hrs.
Acre
Acre
1
18
2
1
0.33
296
20
300
170
1
1
______________________
4,820
Total Variable Costs
15. FIXED COSTS
16. Machine & Equip.
17. Irrigation
18. Land Charge
Acre
Acre
Acre
1
1
1
240
80
50
240
80
50
__________
__________
Total Fixed Costs
______________________
370
__________
TOTAL COSTS
5,190
__________
RETURN ABOVE VARIABLE COSTS
4,480
___________
RETURN ABOVE TOTAL COSTS
4,110
___________
Notes – Budget estimates for planning only.
1. Yield extrapolated from Mississippi State University Budgets 2013. Price taken from Carolina Farm Stewardship
Assoc. (CFSA) Organic Produce Marketing Survey, 2013.
2. Variable costs are those costs that a farmer incurs because he/she decided to grow this specific crop.
3. Average organic certification cost from USDA Farm Services Administration.
4. Extrapolated from organic seedling prices found in Internet search, and Mississippi State University enterprise
budgets.
5. Average price of 1 ton of compost, chicken litter, or manure found in Internet search.
6. Average of various cover crop seed and planting cost. Estimated from farmer interviews, and Mississippi State
University enterprise budgets, 2013.
7. Equals 1 ton of lime per acre every 3 years. Price from Internet search.
8. Used only when mechanical and physical control methods are ineffective. Application rates and weighted
average price for Dipel DF, PyGanic & Trilogy taken from 2013 CFSA pest control worksheets.
9. Mississippi State University, Traditional Vegetables 2013 Planning Budgets, and farmer reviews.
10. Cost estimate from Internet search of various suppliers.
11. Labor estimates vary widely. This estimate is extrapolated from enterprise budgets developed by University of
Georgia 2009 and Mississippi State University 2013.
12. Irrigation supplies include 1.5 rolls of drip tape and 6 acre inches of rural water cost. Derived from the
Mississippi State University 2013 enterprise budgets.
13. Price from Internet search.
14. Purposely left blank for other unspecified farm costs.
15. Fixed costs are costs that a farmer incurs whether or not a crop is grown.
16. See table below.
17. Annual fixed cost for irrigation setup.
18. Average of farm rental values for North and South Carolina. Estimated from USDA National Agricultural Statistics
Service 2010 published cropland rents.
Machinery and Equipment Costs*
Purchase
Price $
17,000
2,500
2,600
9,400
1,100
4,450
3,000
2,500
1,000
Salvage
Value $
4,000
600
600
1,900
200
900
1,500
600
0
Useful
Life
Yrs.
20
15
20
20
20
15
20
20
5
Acres
Repair & Maint. Total**
Item
Used/Yr.
$/Ac.
$/Ac.
Tractor
10
3.00
68
Chisel Plow
10
0.30
13
Transplanter
4
0.20
25
Pest. Sprayer
10
9.50
47
Trailer
10
0.10
5
Disk
10
0.20
24
Manure Spreader
10
0.20
8
Bed Shaper
5
1.50
21
200 Buckets
7
0
29
Total $/ Acre = 240
*Estimates derived from Mississippi State University, Traditional Vegetable 2013 Planning Budgets; Why Cows
Need Names, and More Secrets of Amish Farms, Randy James, Kent State University Press, 2013 and Internet
search of various machinery suppliers.
**Total $/Ac. = Purchase Price – Salvage Value/Useful Life/ Acres Used + Repair & Maintenance.
Prepared and updated by: Randy James, PhD, Professor Emeritus, The Ohio State University; Karen RM
McSwain, MS, Farm Services Director, Carolina Farm Stewardship Association; and farmers who attended the
Developing Enterprise Budget workshop at CFSA’s Organic Commodities and Livestock Conference, 2015.